UMass Daily Reader: URI basketball on the upswing

Welcome back to the UMass Daily Reader, Tuesday Edition. I'll be brief today because of the MAC Football Media Day proceedings, but why don't you take a seat, grab a bite to eat and enjoy today's news roundup as it pertains to the world of UMass sports.

The Rams were particularly dreadful in 2012-13, winning just three of 13 Atlantic 10 Conference games and just eight games overall. But that was pretty much to be expected given the state of their roster with several key players being forced to sit out the season. But those players are back now, and, joined with a few key incoming freshman, they should help lead URI to greater heights in 2013-14. Watch out for freshman E.C. Matthews, who should make a strong push for the starting point guard job.

I won't lie — Steele fails to mention UMass even once his nine-and-a-half-minute MAC segment. Maybe that'll keep you from tuning in, but I hope not, because Phil is always a good listen. In fact, I'm working on lining him up for a UMass-centric Q&A for later this week, so go ahead and use this video clip as a primer. In it, Steele calls for four bowl teams to emerge from the MAC in 2013, which sounds about right to me. Though, I wouldn't count on any BCS bowl berths this time around.

The complete MAC preseason media poll is due to be released Tuesday at Ford Field in Detroit, but the Blade's Ryan Autullo decided to give us a little sneak peak at his ballot. Thanks, Ryan. No surprised at the top of either division, as he has Northern Illinois and Ball State going 1-2 in the West with Bowling Green and Ohio holding down the top spots in the East. "A successful transition to FBS will take some time for the Minutemen," he writes for UMass, which he has ranked seventh in the East. Ain't that the truth.